“It became misinterpreted. And what it said was that if someone has left the Church of Scientology or if someone is directly attacking the Church of Scientology, that person no longer has recourse to the internal ethics and justice procedures within the Church. It was cancelled—but for PR reasons, because it had been misinterpreted.” –Mike Rinder, December 14, 1998, on A&E
Any and all statements that the Church has a policy of “fair game” are false; the implication that such a policy endorsed violating the law of the land is also false; Mike Rinder knows that better than anyone. That Mike Rinder is now peddling false ideas is predictable.
Spreading lies and misinformation on Scientology is how Mike Rinder now makes his living.
Spreading lies and misinformation on Scientology is how Mike Rinder now makes his living. Mike Rinder has not stepped inside a Church in nearly a decade. The Church expelled him for severe malfeasance and has had nothing to do with him since. Rinder admitted under oath to being paid by the hour by plaintiffs’ attorneys filing frivolous lawsuits against the Church, which one for one have been dismissed in the courts. In one case, attorneys adverse to the Church paid Rinder more than $22,000. He is now being paid by tabloid media.
Rinder is trying to do what he knows anti-Scientologists have done for years, intentionally misinterpret “fair game” to unfairly tarnish the Church. The “fair game” policy was cancelled in 1968 by the Founder, nearly five decades ago, expressly because it was susceptible to misinterpretation. The term meant that apostate members could not seek protection or refuge under the Church’s internal justice codes and that those expelled from the Church could no longer take advantage of the internal ecclesiastical support offered by the Church to resolve upsets among parishioners. This concept is as old as religion itself. Many faiths reserve the right to expel members who refuse to abide by the moral and ecclesiastical codes of their religion. The term “fair game” does not appear in our Scripture. In fact, its only use since 1968 is by people like Mike Rinder who use it to generate sensationalistic press to generate anti-Scientology prejudice in the media.
Now Rinder is trying to do what he knows anti-Scientologists have done for years, intentionally misinterpret “fair game” to unfairly tarnish the Church.
Current Church leadership reaffirmed these facts and part of the two-year process for IRS exemption included full recognition that the Church is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and religious purposes and was not engaged in illegal activities or otherwise in violation of any fundamental public policy. Mike Rinder is well aware of these facts and is lying to say otherwise.
The truth is that current Church leadership never has and never would tolerate unethical conduct, which is why individuals like Rinder were removed. The Scientology Scripture is replete with admonitions to operate on a foundation of honesty and integrity, which the expelled members you interview were unable to uphold.
The truth is that current Church leadership never has and never would tolerate unethical conduct, which is why individuals like Rinder were removed.
Mike Rinder is not a credible source. Furthermore, he is an unstable man who abandoned his family without notice, shredding his ex-wife’s arm so severely she will never regain full use of it. The severe malfeasance he committed referred to above involved an important Church legal case. It led to his removal from any position of responsibility and his ultimately being kicked out of the Church.
